Princess and the Hollow
by iheartligers
Summary: Orihime is trapped in the palace of the hollow, and where's Ichigo? Well... Follows Bueaty and the Beast plot. IchigoxOrihime. T for minor cursing.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hey guys, I probably shouldn't be writing another story but this one will be completed before the end of summer, and all my other stories will currently be on hiatus to garuntee that this will be completed (I will continue to write crack though, and I will take requests) P.S. check out my forum ;) o.k. so I'm the co-author of this, but my friend doesn't have an account yet so I will be posting everything. She wrote all the Ichigo POV chapters I wrote the Orihime POV chapters and we both kind of wrote the Soul Society POV chapters.

C- yay! She's finally posting I wrote this first chapter, hope you enjoy=:)

Iheartligers- sadly, the best manga/anime in the world…

America- other than Hetalia

C- sure….

Iheartligers- *glares due to the interruption of the disclaimer*… is owned by Tite Kubo. In short, we own nothing :,(

Princess and the Hollow: Chapter One

Author: C

Ichigo's POV

"GOOD MORNING ICHIGO!" yelled my annoying, perverted father. I groaned angrily and slowly opened my eyes. I saw my idiot father sprinting towards me with that stupid smile of his.

As he got to the foot of my bed, I punched him in the face, sending him flying.

"TOO MUCH NOISE EARLY IN THE MORNING!" I growled at my annoying father.

"Awwwww!" my father laughed in an annoying high pitched voice, " I see my son is being secretive. I know what is going on up here!"

"Shut up you damn pervert!" I growled again.

"Come on son, dreaming about girls is normal for a teenage boy!" teased my father as he tried leaning against my bedroom window. I guess his weight was too much because as soon as he leaned, the glass shattered, and he fell through to who knows where.

I dressed quickly and trudged out of my room.

"Good morning Ichigo!" Yuzu happily said when I entered the kitchen.

"Why are you so happy today?" I asked sitting down at the table.

"That stupid beach trip to, where are we going again?" asked Karin.

"Okinawa!" our father screamed as he opened the front door. He was cut up, bleeding, and covered in glass, and yet he still acted like nothing happened. I mean what kind of idiot does that?

"Our bags are already packed." He happily yelled running toward the table.

"Whatever," I sighed.

"Oh! And girls, I packed you guys extra underwear!" my father exclaimed.

"You damn pervert!" I yelled.

"What do you expect, he's a middle aged man but still has the maturity of a preschooler." Karin sighed.

"Let's go! Forget breakfast!" our father yelled grabbing Karin and Yuzu and running out the door.

"You're and idiot." I muttered under my breath.

I slowly waked out of my house and got into a crappy Chevy that my dad had rented. It took us an hour just to get to the boat; the trip on that cheap death trap seemed even longer because my father and Yuzu were singing stupid road trip songs the entire way. To make even worse, Yuzu had snuck Kon into the back of the car, but I could hear him plotting his escape so he could get to random chicks on the beach.

We finally reached our destination, a crappy beach house. The old goat had a thing for crappy stuff apparently.

"Beach Party!" he yelled, heading straight towards the beach, with my sisters trailing after him.

"How did I get dragged into this?" I moaned, leaning against the car.

"Party!" Kon screamed jumping out of the car. I quickly grabbed him from the air, and threw him back into the car.

"Give it a rest will ya! I already have to deal with my father!" I yelled angrily slamming the car door. I slowly walked to the beach and found spot next to Karin.

She was leaning against the boardwalk far away from the water.

"You've had it as well?" I asked her.

"With those two running around, this vacation will become a living nightmare." Karin stated, kicking up some sand.

"Hey, you ever notice that?" Karin asked, pointing to a castle on a distant hill down the beach.

"Great," I sighed. Now I have to worry about hollows too.

"Ichigo!" Karin sharply whispered.

"What!" I said annoyed.

"Good luck!" Karin sarcastically said, walking away from me.

I rolled my eyes and scanned the beach for any hollows.

"Kurosaki-kun!" yelled/laughed a familiar voice. I quickly turned around and saw Orihime in a yellow sundress.

"Orihime!" I said quickly, seeing my crush right in front of me! I felt myself blushing, and saw her blushing as well.

"I didn't mean to scare you." Orihime whispered.

"It's okay." I said, standing over her. She smiled up happily at me and asked, "Do you want to come… I mean, hang out?"

"Yeah, why not?" I said, nervously. Her eyes became very bright, and a smile appeared on her face.

At first we walked across the beach, talking about life, but after a while we started talking about ourselves. How we liked, and disliked certain things. We were having such a great day, but then it to get ruined by stupid father.

"Ichigo!Ohhhh! Who's the cutie?" my perverted father asked in a disgustingly flirtatious voice.

"This is Orihime, we go to school together." I answered, completely annoyed with him.

"Awwww!" he laughed, awkwardly wiggling his eyebrows. My dad quickly grabbed Orihime's hand and kissed it.

"Hands off old fart!" Karin yelled, kicking our father in the face.

"Sorry but we have to go. Dinner time!" Yuzu laughed, helping our father to the crappy shack/beach house. Karin quietly stalked away leaving Orihime and I by ourselves.

"I guess that means I have to go…" I sighed, a bit sad to leave her.

"Okay." Orihime whispered in a sad voice. I thought about kissing her on the check, but quickly decided against it.

"Thanks for today." I said, offering a weak smile instead.

"You're Welcome Kurosaki-Kun!" Orihime said smiling brightly at me. I said good bye, and headed towards to the beach house.

She must have said something because I thought I hear her call out my name. I'm such an idiot, because I ignored her.

I entered the house to be greeted with chaos. My father was running around the rooms like a maniac, Yuzu was trying to cook dinner, and Karin asleep. I sighed and walked into the crappy place. To top it all off, dinner was awful; the old wind bag kept pestering me about Orihime. He was annoying me, and I was about to snap.

By the time I went to bed (early to get away from the insane man) I was ready to kill myself. I must have been around seven when I woke up, and I woke up in a freaking dungeon.

"Finally you're awake!" Captain Unohana said cheerfully, appearing out of nowhere.

"Where am I?" I asked.

"Nowhere, just here." She sighed, shrugging her shoulders as if it was a typical answer.

"What the hell does that mean?" I growled, standing up.

"Simply, you ignored her! And now you have to pay. I'm so tired of both of you never making a move, we all are." She shrugged simply, but giggling maniacally this time.

"You bastard! What is that supposed to be, and who the hell is her?" I yelled.

"Hahahahaha! Yourichi was right." Unohana sighed as if think about something particular nice,

"What the Hell! Just answer my question!" I yelled. The captain of squad four just smiled at me.

Her zonpakuto instantly materializing in her hand, and being plunged into my chest.

"What the hell? You damn bastard!" I growled, seeing the blood ooze from my chest.

"Don't worry, you'll thank me in time." She laughed, slowly pulling the blade from my chest, still giggling and smiling as if we were just having tea. Without warning, my hollow mask started forming around my face. It was so painful, all I could do was crumple to the ground.

I felt the mask cover my face and a hollow tail sprouting from my tailbone.

"As the sunrises, you become hollow, but as it sets you will become human again." Unohana stated simply (at least she stopped giggling) "You must find her and make her love you as a hollow. But she must confess before the rose wilts." She warned. What the hell, now there was a rose too!

"Who is she?" I gasped, trying to catch my breathe.

"You will know because the rose will bloom like crazy, and then slowly die!" she informed, giggling again.

"You bastard!" I wheezed seeing blood still oozing from my chest wound.

"That maybe so, but for now, the mod souls shall stay with you here. Oh! And your family thinks you're on a vacation with friends. So take as long as you need!" she waved smiling as she walked away, back through the entrance of the soul society. I scowled angrily; she contradicted herself, and was being cryptic. I soon passed to be awakened by these bird stuffed animals, pecking bandages onto my wound. I looked at the window to see that the sun had set. I was human. This was going to be a hell of a vacation. I closed my eyes dozing off, into much pain to move from my current position in the bed I found myself in. The only thing on my mind was one question.

_**Who was she?**_


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Yay! Thank you for the amazing reviews! I hope I posted this one in a decent amount of time. I'm excited, it's my turn. I broke 2,000 words in just story! I'm proud, that's a major achievement. I hope I did a decent job at Orihime's Point of View, I know it gets kind of (more than kind of)OOC at the end there, but I'm happy with it. I will have the next chapter up ASAP! Thanks again, and I hope you enjoy

Disclaimer:

C- why don't we just buy Bleach

Iheartligers- I don't want the angry mob to come after me if we ruin it, leave that to the rich people who can afford to live in hiding for the rest of their lives, I still want what little life I still have.

C- shut up! We don't own anything, please ignore the stupid rant above.

Princess and the Hollow Chapter Two

Orihime's POV

Author: iheartligers

"_Orihime!" called the cat that sat at the top of the stairs leading up to my apartment. I was just arriving home after spending the night at Tatsuki's discussing our usual topic, Ichigo. _

"_Yourichi-san!" I exclaimed, bowing to former captain. "Orihime, I have a surprise for you that the Female Soul Reapers put together for you," _

_ "Oh," I exclaimed, they really shouldn't have. "Thank you! How generous of all of you, but you really shouldn't have, I can't accept it." _

_ "Now Orihime," chuckled the talking cat, "we already have everything ready, and would be so disheartened if you didn't take it." I didn't want to disappoint all of my new found shinigami friends that were always so kind to us. _

_ "Well what the surprise?" I asked, curiosity getting the best me, I just had to ask. _

_ "Come inside, it's all in your apartment." The black cat then proceeded to sit patiently by my apartment door, signifying that I would see the 'surprise' and I would probably end up keeping it. I opened the unlocked door, and stepped inside to see suitcases stacked. _

_ "You need to hurry up, the boat leaves in a little bit," Stated the cat women as she jumped on top of them, "you have everything that you could possibly need for your trip. We have everything new, Lieutenant Motsumoto picked out all of clothes, and Yachiru packed you snacks."_

_ "Wow! Thank you, I'm going to have to get you guy's gifts to repay you!" it was amazing; I never would have been able to afford all of this without them. "I really can't accept it," I sputtered it was too much, I didn't need this, and even though it was really nice, I would feel guilty if I took it. Tatsuki would wander where I went, and certainly wouldn't approve of me going anywhere unprotected. _

_ "No Orihime, you need a vacation, so you're going to take it, by orders from the Soul Society. Don't worry, your friends already know that you will be absent for… a while." I couldn't disobey; maybe I could get a refund for the ticket, and give them the money back later. "and, I will personally accompany you to the marina to make sure that you don't miss your boat." Spoke the cat, jumping down and heading out the door. So much for my plan, I grabbed the bags and ran out the door after the black cat. _

"_Wait Yourichi-san!"_

That's how I got to Okinawa, and I'm glad that Yourichi followed me to make sure I didn't turn back around and just get a refund to pay everyone back. Yesterday was one of the best days of my life. Who knew the Kurosaki family would be on vacation the same time that the Soul Society sent me on mine? When I got to the beach, I didn't expect to see Kurosaki-kun of all people. I thought I would be meeting other soul reapers, but there was Ichigo, so I had to go say hello.

"Kurosaki-kun!" I called as I ran up to him, waving. He turned around, and immediately his face turned red, I really hope I didn't upset him, I don't want to ruin his vacation; maybe I should just turn around and not bother him. It was too late when I felt his gaze on me, and knew it was too late, I instantly blushed. Even Rukia would blush if the man she loved since she was eight was staring at her with his wonderfully chocolate colored eyes. Milk Chocolate colored eyes. Milk chocolate would go great on Gummy Bears, and that would all go AMAZINGLY on sweet potato ice cream. I need to find a grocery store! I realized that I was now face to face to the guy that started this rant.

"Orihime," he half said half breathed, making it sound almost like a wish, I didn't mean to scare him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." I said. From there we just 'clicked' and we talked and walked around the beach. His dad was really nice, and I love his sisters. I was sad when they had to go.

"Ichigo!" I called as he turned to enter the beach house. I guess he just didn't hear me because he kept walking. I could ask tomorrow if he wanted to go out for ice cream my treat. So that's where I am, in front of the beach house his family is renting, deciding if I should just return to my hotel, I really shouldn't bother Kurosaki-kun, I turned right as the door opened, I guess some one saw me through the window.

"Ohayou Gozaimasu, Orihime-chan!" greeted Kurosaki-senpai.

"Oh! Good morning Kurosaki-san!" I said in return, trying to decide how to ask if Ichigo was awake yet.

"Sorry Mrs. Inoue, my ugly, idiot son isn't here, but I'm sure a pretty girl has better people to hang with than a little punk like my son. People as handsome as me!" said Ichigo's dad.

"Oh- oh no! I couldn't intrude on your vacation Mr. Kurosaki! I will just go sightseeing today! Do you know when your son might be back?" I asked, trying to locate Ichigo, I would feel bad if it turned out he wanted to eat some ice cream as well, and I didn't even get the chance to ask him.

"I'm not sure, sorry Orihime; he just left a note saying he was going on vacation with some other friends on the other side of the island." He said. So he was gone? I wander if any of our friends from the Soul Society , or school were vacationing here.

"Thank you!" I said to the elder Kurosaki, as I bowed in good bye.

"Bye Orihime!" he called from the door as I took off down the road back to beach. I know I shouldn't be feeling this way, he wasn't mine, I had no right to even feel rejected by his sudden disappearance. No matter what I felt yesterday, he wasn't mine, and I wasn't entitled to know where he was, let alone show up at his home, and bother his family. No matter what, I was just a burden to Ichigo, his family, everyone. I shouldn't have come on this trip. I took advantage of the kindness of others. I'm not only a burden, but a terrible person, who was weak. I found myself by the pier where I first saw Ichigo.

If I really loved him, I wouldn't be a bother like this, I'm sure he doesn't appreciate anyone being clingy. I couldn't be a burden.

Yet, I still felt sad; I stumbled along the beach until I found myself at the base of a hill, looking up at a castle. I talked about that same castle with Ichigo; I told him what I thought it would be like to live there. How amazing it would be to actually be a princess, and have dragons come and kidnap me, but they would turn out to be nice, and we would become best friends. We would dance, and sing and have feasts. The food would be amazing. And all as I was going on, he just smiled at me, holding my hand. I thought… I thought… I thought I might have had a chance then, but I guess not. We were just friends. Even if we weren't, I would always be there to try and protect him, to heal him. As long as he needed me, I would be there. I headed up to the castle. I should do some sightseeing, as I told his dad that I would do.

The castle had an amazing view of the ocean, I could see well out into the horizon, up and down the coast, and into the depths of the clear blue waters. It was beautiful. Maybe if Ichigo were here, it would help him relax to see a sunset up here. We could have had a picnic with peanut butter and pickle sandwiches. If I had the nerve, I could have confessed to him up here. It could have been perfect.

_I shouldn't be thinking these thoughts._

I chided myself, yet I couldn't help wondering where he was, even if they were selfish thoughts.

"Orihime!" called a very familiar voice. I turned around to see a little bird that I knew so well.

"Lirin!" I called back, waving. If she was here, Ichigo must be close. I could practically smell him!

"Do you not sense that!" she yelled, stomping up to me, and scrambling up to my shoulder. She started tugging at my hair really hard.

"Oww! No! Lirin! Please stop! That hurts!" I pleaded with the tiny mod-soul, waving my hands around in an attempt to ward off the attacks from the stuffed animal.

"Well, come on!" she practically growled, jumping off of me, and leading me through a what was once a hallway, back when the castle was still in its full glory. I turned a corner, and was greeted by yet another mod-soul.

"Hello Noba!" I greeted as I bent down to pick up the less temperamental of the two stuffed animals that I have come across today. "What are you guys doing here?" I asked, there must be something serious going on if they left Urahara's shop. "Is Kurodo here too? What about Ko-,"

I was interrupted by a stuffed lion running up to me yelling, "My Hime! The goddess of all the goodies!" he immediately ran up and started to climb up my leg. I was glad to have some friends here with me, (vacations are no fun by yourself) all of these stuffed animals, with the exception of Kon, have saved my life at least once. Any company was company.

"Wait for me!" yelled Kurodo, as he hopped around the corner carrying a mod-soul size suitcase in each hand.

"Kurodo-san!" I greeted, dropping all of the other mod-souls to pick up the one that had just joined us.

"Orihime-san! You've grown so much since the last I saw you!" said the bunny mod-soul. I set him down and looked at all of the animals, standing in a row, not exactly sure what to do.

"I'm so glad you guys are here!" I said, not being able to handle the silence.

"You'll be even happier when we take you to your beloved!" exclaimed Kurodo.

"YOU IDIOT!" screeched Lirin as she ran up, and kicked the bunny upside the face.

"Oi, my apologies Lirin." Said Kurodo, glad to get off so easy.

"Noba, we need to leave now!" commanded the duckling.

"Yes, Lirin," was all that the soft spoken turtle said before opening the portal, following the commands. I peered inside, hoping to catch a glimpse of where I might be going, but all I could see was a black haze.

"Come ON!" screamed the tiniest, as she shoved me into the portal. Before I could try to reclaim by precarious balance, I was sucked in. I barely felt like I was falling, more like floating, and before I knew it, I was lying down, on the floor of a mysterious room. I sat up, trying to figure where I ended up at.

"Lirin!" I called, I hoped no one had gotten hurt in the fall. I was sitting in what looked like a traditional bed room, rays of sunlight shining through the rice paper doors, making tiny, grainy shadows on the matted floors.

I got up and blushed looking at my feet, "how rude of me, I forgot to take my shoes off!" I exclaimed to myself while slipping off my shoes, I headed towards a door, looking for a place to set my flip flops down. The first door led to a hallway, that wouldn't do. The second door led to a garden. I set my shoes down right outside the door, and slipped them back on.

The garden was huge, with pathways leading to a tiny hut in the back.

"WOW! Someone important must live here to have a sauna!" I exclaimed.

"My Hime!" there was Kon, at least I knew where one of the mod-souls were. "It was so terrible! The hollow tried to eat me!" all the while he was trying to climb up my dress, but I'm not sure how well that worked because I was wearing another sundress.

"Kon! Get off of her! She needs to get dressed for dinner!" yelled Lirin, successfully pulling the lion off of my leg.

"You're not the boss of me!" argued Kon. "Wait! Orihime! I can help you get dressed!" yelled the little mod-soul. He took off running, and tried to jump on top of me, before I could even react, a claw came out of nowhere and grabbed him.

"Get off of her you damn pervert!" yelled the hollow, this was an arrancar, since it could talk but…

"Orihime?" it asked, almost in a whisper. The last thing I remember is a the vasto lordes holding Kon in one claw, and a blooming rose in the other before I passed out.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: hey this is iheartligers. Sorry for the wait C and I have EOCs today :P so i wanted to post this before going into testing. i'm going to make this short and i'll explain everything in the next chapter that will be up as soon as I'm done writing. Just a quick shout out to everyone who reviewed~ Thank you thank you thank you!

And thank you to 2late2begin for being an amazing beta!

we own nothing

~iheartligers

Princess and the Hollow Chapter 3

Author~C

Ichigo's POV

"Ichigo… danger…" Orihime murmured as I carried her into her room. Why couldn't she have come at night?

"…castle…" she whispered, placing her head on my chest. Why couldn't she have come when I was human?

"The 'castle' is a cavern." I scoffed out loud. How could Orihime think this place was a castle? This was a cavern that I beginning was to think of as hell! I entered her room (which was a small lit up area in the cavern.) and placed her on her bed. I quietly left her room and stumbled to a small pool that was filled by a small quiet waterfall. I stared down into the water and saw my reflection. My Vasto Lordes glaring back at me. There were what looked like claw marks running down my mask and down my chest. The blood red stood out against my pale white skin, I looked like a totally different person. Yet, I still wore my shinigami pants. In the background, I could see my hollow tail flicking back and forth in agitation.

"Kurosaki-kun!" I heard Orihime cry. I quickly rushed into her room and saw her fearfully walking around.

"It's best if you don't yell. Many of the mod-souls hate noise." I said, instantly berating myself for sounding like such an ass. To top it all off, my voice sounded creepier, so as soon as I started talking, I was taken by surprise by how unlike me, or my hollow it sounded like. Orihime took a few steps back. I hesitantly backed away from her, and reluctantly into a patch of sunlight that was rare in this cavern.

"So, please be quiet." I said in a lighter tone, trying not to scare her away, as I glanced down on her.

"Hollows can't talk!" she cried, evidently shaking before me.

"What are you?" she asked.

"I'm a….." what exactly was I? "…Urahara has done many things for me. This is my way of repaying my debt." I said, daring to step closer to her. Her eyes widened as I neared closer, and I grimaced on the inside.

"Breakfast is whenever you wake up, Lunch is whenever you are hungry, and the same thing for dinner." You will be here until Urahara sends for you, so it's best to befriend some of the mod-souls." I explained.

I was about to leave her room when Orihime asked, "What about you?" it was so like Inoue to care for everyone, even the hollow holding her captive. It was nice, but her levels of worry for herself really scared me.

"I will usually be gone." I growled as I quickly turned around. My tail twitched back in forth.

"If I'm right, your twitching tail tells me you are angry at me." Orihime stated in an almost hurt voice, stepping closer to me.

"Stay far away from the West Wing." I advised, backing away from her, unsure of what would happen if she became too close to me.

"Why?" she asked, looking at me with those grey eyes, shining with intense curiosity. It wasn't hard to see that she was becoming more comfortable with my presence and transfixed on who I really was, it was shocking how fast this was all happening.

"If you wish to die, you are welcome to go there." I said, leaving her room.

"It's strange, you kind of remind me of Kurosaki-kun." Orihime sighed, following me out of her room. I stopped in my tracks and stared her down.

"It's a beautiful castle…. How did you get it?" she asked me happily.

"You see a castle, I see… a barren wasteland." I scoffed, walking away from her, again.

"Hey! Why can't we just talk?" Orihime said, skipping up next to me.

"I told you, you can befriend mod-souls, but its best for you to not befriend me." I practically growled, picking up my pace.

"Why… Hey! I'm talking to you!" she smiled, as she skipped up to me, grabbing my hand.

"Leave me alone…" I practically growled out, the sun was going to set soon, and I had no clue what would happen now that she was here. Making up my mind I did the first thing I could think of, I ran.

"Please!" Orihime called after me. Damn it, her voice was getting closer, she was following me.

"Damn! Why is she so persistent?" I thought as I quickly followed the winding corridor. I picked up my speed and jumped into the shadows. I watched as she passed me.

"Thank you!" I sighed, sinking down to the floor. I looked above me and saw the roof of a cave covered in glow worms.

"Mr. Hollow?" I heard Orihime's voice. She was getting closer to my hiding place. Run! I thought to myself as I got up. I quickly sprinted down the corridor, and entered the West Wing, slamming the door shut behind me. I sighed, and bent over in relief.

"What are you doing?" Get back out there!" a voice yelled at me.

"Huh?" I gasped, looking down to see Lirin glaring up at me.

"Orihime is… intrigued with the hollow; this may help you break the curse!" Lirin sighed deeply and walked deeper into the West Wing. The West Wing was my room, and also my only view of the outside world. I slowly trudged to a table in the center of the room. On the table was the rose, just floating there and covered by a glass jar. The rose had already begun to wilt, there was no way I could break this curse. I quietly slipped out of the West Wing. Someone had to make sure Orihime did not kill herself with her clumsiness. It took forever to find her. Reiastu seemed to be blocked in this Cavern. Unohana really did hate me, there was no way I could keep track of Inoue, or that she could tell it was me, especially with my new hollow form.

I eventually found her, just sitting on the balcony watching the clouds.

"Orihime?" I said, getting her attention.

"Wow! Mr. Hollow, you are really good at playing hide-and-go-seek!" she laughed, skipping towards me.

"Why don't you come outside?" she asked grabbing my hand. I just stared at it, her hand in mine. She looked back and seemed to notice her actions, because she immediately blushed and dropped my hand.

"I'm sorry Mr. Hollow!" she apologized, bowing really quickly out of respect, hoping to hide her embarrassment.

"It's o.k. Inoue, but I can't." I murmured, trying not to think of how her hand fit in mine.

"Of course you can!" Orihime laughed again, leading the way outside. I refused to let her out of my sight, so I followed her. I suddenly began to freak out, if any of the human's saw me, I would be attacked and hunted down. I wasn't sure if I was invisible to humans like regular hollows.

"Why don't you like to go outside?" Orihime asked me. I guess she saw that I was very uncomfortable.

"If I leave the cavern, I'm taking the chance of being killed by… soul reapers." I explained to her, trying to head back to the shadows.

"It's o.k. I will protect you." She said in all seriousness. She would protect a hollow? She danced further into the sunlight, and I found myself mesmerized with the swishing of her long dress. It was the picture of beauty and innocence.

"That makes me feel so much better." I sarcastically responded to her comment, even though she could not hear me.

"How do you like it here?" I asked, genuinely curious about what could possibly be going through her mind right now. I began to look over the balcony.

"It's nice…. Hey! That's the beach I was at yesterday." Orihime said, looking at it longingly. The beach brought back good memories of yesterday to me too, I couldn't help but slightly smile.

"Strange, why is no one there? She asked me, leaning precariously over the railing on the balcony.

"A typhoon," I answered, backing into the shadows.

"Please stay," she begged me, looking at me with her grey eyes. I was taken aback on how quick she had accepted this hollow form.

"I… alright" I sputtered, ultimately giving in, and sitting down next to the Princess of this 'castle'. I looked up at the sky and noticed the sinking sun.

"I really have to go!" I cried, running toward the West Wing for solace. I could already feel the pain of the transformation coming on. I slammed the door as I entered my chambers, slumping to the ground, ready to feel the pain for the second time today.

"It can't go on like this." I muttered to myself.


End file.
